My disappointment in the book, The Namesake, made me skip the movie adaptation. Upon discovering that it was uploaded to my favourite streaming video site, I decided it was worth the download bandwidth and just finished watching it.

The movie is marginally better than the book, carried almost completely by the Irfan Khan, playing the father. Kal Penn reprieves his open-mouthed conveys-all expression. His slack jawed gawp was cute in Harold and Kumar, bemusing in Superman Returns (open-mouthed == menacing?), misplaced in The Namesake (open-mouthed == embarrassed, open-mouthed == father sharing with me, open-mouthed == sad guilt). Back to Irfan Khan, he was subtle, convincing, charming, and the only justification for watching The Namesake.

My antipathy to Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies, was carried over to a wary reading of her The Namesake, and an even more sceptical viewing of the movie. I have yet to discern why, unlike the critics and the masses, I’m so disappointed in Jhumpa Lahiri’s writings.